Hawksong -- Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

Title: Hawksong

Author: Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

Publisher: Delacorte Books

Series or Standalone? The first in the Kiesha'ra series.

Summary: Danica Shardae is an avian shapeshifter, and the golden hawk’s form in which she takes to the sky is as natural to her as the human one that graces her on land. The only thing more familiar to her is war: It has raged between her people and the serpiente for so long, no one can remember how the fighting began. As heir to the avian throne, Danica will do anything in her power to stop the bloodshed–even accept Zane Cobriana, the terrifying leader of her kind’s greatest enemy, as her pair bond and make the two royal families one. Now Danica must convince her people that Zane is just as committed to peace as she is–though she can’t help fearing that, despite his word, he will strike as swiftly and lethally as the cobra that is his second form. Among the serpiente, she’ll have to pretend to be in love, though when they’re alone, her reserve threatens to keep her and Zane worlds apart. And in their midst are dissenters who will do whatever it takes to destroy this union. Trust. It is all Zane asks of Danica–and all they ask of their people–but it may be more than she can give.

RATING: 2 out of 5 stars

REVIEW: I'm not gonna lie, I picked this book up solely because the whole marriage-without-love-turns-passionate plotline is one of my favourite tropes, it gets me every time. Bonus points as non-werewolf shapeshifters are involved. The world building was also very interesting and I liked reading about the differences between the avians and the serpentine clans.

Nonetheless, even the presence of one of my favourite tropes couldn't blind me to the feeling that the book as a whole was a bit flat. It storyline had a lot of potential, what with the ingrained hatred between the 2 clans and the awesome powers of shapeshifting. I think the book could have gone a lot further if the world and the shapeshifter's powers, along with the relationship between the serpents and the avians were further explored. Alas, Hawksong remains very character driven and unfortunately... the characters of Hawksong aren't so great. I never felt connected to Danica, despite being told everything from first person's point of view. Zane, her husband-to-be and love interest, had potential to become the type of dangerous yet sweet male character type that I always go ga-ga over; but he also became very 2-D. Needless to say, I'm a little bit disappointed.

The plot line was quite predictable, there was really no twist or even a decent climax. Nonetheless, the book wasn't very long so at least it's good if you're looking for a light, fun read.

COVER: My cover has Zane and his glowing red eyes on it, it looks better on screen than it does in real life. I actually prefer the version where both Danica and Zane are featured, it makes more sense to me since Danica is the one narrating after all. I think the one in the cover of the next book, Snakecharm, is also Zane as he's the narrator of that one. I doubt I'd be reading another one of these books, though.